Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019
Snow-induced radiative forcing (S<sub>n</sub>RF), defined as the instantaneous perturbation of the Earth’s shortwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), results from variations in the terrestrial snow cover extent (SCE), and is critical for the regulation of the Earth’s energy...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4938 |
| _version_ | 1797507195893448704 |
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| author | Xiaona Chen Yaping Yang Cong Yin |
| author_facet | Xiaona Chen Yaping Yang Cong Yin |
| author_sort | Xiaona Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Snow-induced radiative forcing (S<sub>n</sub>RF), defined as the instantaneous perturbation of the Earth’s shortwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), results from variations in the terrestrial snow cover extent (SCE), and is critical for the regulation of the Earth’s energy budget. However, with the growing seasonal divergence of SCE over the Northern Hemisphere (NH) in the past two decades, novel insights pertaining to S<sub>n</sub>RF are lacking. Consequently, the contribution of S<sub>n</sub>RF to TOA shortwave radiation anomalies still remains unclear. Utilizing the latest datasets of snow cover, surface albedo, and albedo radiative kernels, this study investigated the distribution of SnRF over the NH and explored its changes from 2000 to 2019. The 20-year averaged annual mean S<sub>n</sub>RF in the NH was −1.13 ± 0.05 W m<sup>−2</sup>, with a weakening trend of 0.0047 Wm<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> (<i>p</i> < 0.01) during 2000–2019, indicating that an extra 0.094 W m<sup>−2</sup> of shortwave radiation was absorbed by the Earth climate system. Moreover, changes in S<sub>n</sub>RF were highly correlated with satellite-observed TOA shortwave flux anomalies (<i>r</i> = 0.79, <i>p</i> < 0.05) during 2000–2019. Additionally, a detailed contribution analysis revealed that the S<sub>n</sub>RF in snow accumulation months, from March to May, accounted for 58.10% of the annual mean S<sub>n</sub>RF variability across the NH. These results can assist in providing a better understanding of the role of snow cover in Earth’s climate system in the context of climate change. Although the rapid SCE decline over the NH has a hiatus for the period during 2000–2019, S<sub>n</sub>RF continues to follow a weakening trend. Therefore, this should be taken into consideration in current climate change models and future climate projections. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:45:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2567c64068384694ba6868dcad473c61 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:45:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-2567c64068384694ba6868dcad473c612023-11-23T02:58:41ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-12-011323493810.3390/rs13234938Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019Xiaona Chen0Yaping Yang1Cong Yin2State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, ChinaSnow-induced radiative forcing (S<sub>n</sub>RF), defined as the instantaneous perturbation of the Earth’s shortwave radiation at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), results from variations in the terrestrial snow cover extent (SCE), and is critical for the regulation of the Earth’s energy budget. However, with the growing seasonal divergence of SCE over the Northern Hemisphere (NH) in the past two decades, novel insights pertaining to S<sub>n</sub>RF are lacking. Consequently, the contribution of S<sub>n</sub>RF to TOA shortwave radiation anomalies still remains unclear. Utilizing the latest datasets of snow cover, surface albedo, and albedo radiative kernels, this study investigated the distribution of SnRF over the NH and explored its changes from 2000 to 2019. The 20-year averaged annual mean S<sub>n</sub>RF in the NH was −1.13 ± 0.05 W m<sup>−2</sup>, with a weakening trend of 0.0047 Wm<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> (<i>p</i> < 0.01) during 2000–2019, indicating that an extra 0.094 W m<sup>−2</sup> of shortwave radiation was absorbed by the Earth climate system. Moreover, changes in S<sub>n</sub>RF were highly correlated with satellite-observed TOA shortwave flux anomalies (<i>r</i> = 0.79, <i>p</i> < 0.05) during 2000–2019. Additionally, a detailed contribution analysis revealed that the S<sub>n</sub>RF in snow accumulation months, from March to May, accounted for 58.10% of the annual mean S<sub>n</sub>RF variability across the NH. These results can assist in providing a better understanding of the role of snow cover in Earth’s climate system in the context of climate change. Although the rapid SCE decline over the NH has a hiatus for the period during 2000–2019, S<sub>n</sub>RF continues to follow a weakening trend. Therefore, this should be taken into consideration in current climate change models and future climate projections.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4938Northern Hemispheresnow-induced radiative forcingenergy budget |
| spellingShingle | Xiaona Chen Yaping Yang Cong Yin Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019 Remote Sensing Northern Hemisphere snow-induced radiative forcing energy budget |
| title | Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019 |
| title_full | Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019 |
| title_fullStr | Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019 |
| title_short | Contribution of Changes in Snow Cover Extent to Shortwave Radiation Perturbations at the Top of the Atmosphere over the Northern Hemisphere during 2000–2019 |
| title_sort | contribution of changes in snow cover extent to shortwave radiation perturbations at the top of the atmosphere over the northern hemisphere during 2000 2019 |
| topic | Northern Hemisphere snow-induced radiative forcing energy budget |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4938 |
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